John Boozman thrashes Ted Cruz for Obamacare tactics

Sen. John Boozman lit into Sen. Ted Cruz during a closed-door meeting this week, underscoring the mounting tension within the Senate Republican Conference over the Texas freshman’s hardball tactics on Obamacare.

Boozman is usually quiet and reserved in private sessions, but on Tuesday he could no longer keep his anger reserved, according to four people who witnessed the exchange.

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Cruz's speech: 10 colorful quotes

Boozman, an Arkansas Republican elected in 2010, stood up and yelled at Cruz, expressing frustration that his staff was deluged with belligerent phone calls mostly from out-of-state activists attacking the senator over the issue of defunding Obamacare, according to several sources familiar with the exchange. Boozman also slammed Cruz for suggesting Republicans were in favor of the three-year-old law even though all of them opposed it and have repeatedly voted to repeal it.

The exchange came as tempers are boiling over Cruz’s tactics. The Texas freshman staged an all-night speech on the Senate floor to pressure Republicans to use the threat of a potential government shutdown as leverage to defund Obamacare. But most Republicans believe the tactic won’t work, would lead to a government shutdown and would prompt a nasty political backlash from voters.

Cruz is calling on Republicans to filibuster a House-passed bill to keep the government funded until Dec. 15 and would defund the Obama health care law. Once the filibuster is defeated, Senate Democrats plan to strip out the defunding provisions.